Saint Vincent edges W&J for PAC title
LATROBE – Carlee Kilgus made a driving layup with 14 seconds remaining that broke a tie and Saint Vincent came up with two steals in the closing seconds to rally for a 65-61 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament game Saturday night.
Saint Vincent finished the abbreviated season with a 10-0 record. It was the lone loss for W&J (8-1), which used a 17-9 scoring edge in the third quarter to take a 40-35 lead.
Saint Vincent scored 30 points in a foul-filled fourth quarter. W&J led by eight points (55-47) with 4:12 remaining before Saint Vincent mounted its comeback. The Bearcats closed to within two points three times before a three-pointer by Kilgus gave Saint Vincent a 60-59 lead with 1:32 to play.
Two free throws by W&J’s Alie Seto with 56 seconds left tied the score at 61-61. Three possessions later, Kilgus, a South Fayette graduate, scored on a hard drove to her left that gave Saint Vincent the lead for good. A steal and two free throws by Jenna Lafko gave the Bearcats a four-point lead with five seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Saint Vincent came up with another steal to seal the victory.
It is the second PAC title for Saint Vincent.
Ella Marconi led the Bearcats with 17 points. Lafko scored 15 and Kilgus had nine. The Bearcats made 20 of 26 free throws including 14 of 19 in the fourth quarter.
Maria Lawhorne was the leading scorer for W&J with 17 points. Seto finished with 13 and Hannah Johnston had 11. The Presidents made 17 of 25 free throws and were 9-for-10 in the final quarter.